Tlaib urges boycott of Bill Maher after he slams BDS movement

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It was the latest twist in a saga hinging on Israel's war against those who would boycott it over its treatment of the Palestinians.

Rashida Tlaib'sgrandmother doesn't understand why her granddaughter, a sitting US congresswoman, couldn't visit her as originally planned.

Following Israel's decision, Tlaib wrote to the Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, making a humanitarian request claiming that it could be her final opportunity to see her 90-year-old grandmother. The Israeli government initially said they would be welcome, despite an Israeli law that bars visitation from those who support boycotts of the Jewish state, which Omar and Tlaib have publicly endorsed.

In response to Tlaib's announcement that she would not visit the country, Deri said Tlaib's "hatred of Israel is stronger than her love of her grandmother" and accused Tlaib of requesting to visit her family as "a provocation in order to besmirch Israel".

Rep. Rashida Tlaib's grandmother says she does not understand what all the hubbub is about - why can't her granddaughter, an important person in America, stop by for a visit?

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem has called Israel's prime minister a "bully" and says she won't visit as long as he remains the country's leader. It would kill a piece of me.

Unless Tlaib holds dual citizenship in Israel, she has no rights there.

Tlaib has emerged as a member of the self-styled "squad" of four progressive newcomers, ethnic minority women whom Trump has repeatedly demonized.

The grandmother told Fox News on Friday night that she was holding out hope. "She doesn't have to see her now!"

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib emotionally told supporters in Detroit on Friday that she "should be on a plane" to see her grandmother in the occupied West Bank.

For Ashraf Samara, the head of the village council, Israel's action toward the congresswoman is a window into the lived experience of the military occupation of the West Bank.

British activist Garry Spedding was also denied entry and banned from the country for five years as he was set to meet with peace advocates in the country.

The elected representatives have been vocal proponents of the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement which seeks to ramp up economic pressure on Israel for its treatment of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories, and its continued construction of settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under worldwide law.

Israel's initial refusal to allow Tlaib and Omar to transit Israel on their way to the West Bank sparked outrage among Palestinians and debate about the intimate ties between Netanyahu and Trump.

"Somehow this side never gets presented in the American media".

Israel is blocking two US Democratic lawmakers, who are prominent critics of the Israeli government, from visiting.

However, all members of Congress have the power of the vote over foreign appropriations, and the United States supplies Israel with billions of dollars in aid. When Israel reversed itself, Hoyer said the move was "deeply disappointing", "disrespectful", "unacceptable" and a "self-inflicted wound" to the U.S. -Israel alliance.